Rise Before the Flames
by DrWhohouselock221b
Summary: Ethan Willis whump fic. Set in episode 6 of season 3 "Hell's Heart," Willis and Rox are rescuing a young boy from a burning building. After saving the kid through a window, Willis is struggling to breathe and searching for an exit. If things couldn't get any worse... well, it can always get worse. Ethan Willis and Rox main char, Willis/Rox friendship, no slash... yet?
1. Into the Flames

Chapter 1.

"Willis! It's a kid's cap." Rox held up the pale baseball cap.

"He has to be inside." Willis began his run to the entrance of the burning building. Smoke was billowing from every opening casting hazardous air in every direction.

"Ethan wait!"

"No, you stay here and be ready for any survivors. I'll be right back." He urged, his face already covered in black soot. She nodded and allowed him to enter the building.

"Hello! Hello, is anybody in here!" He yelled, trying to yell louder than the flames around him. His combat boots were protecting his feet from the embers burning underneath him, but the rest of his body was practically unprotected.

There, a child was sitting near a filing cabinet in the back. "I found him!" Ethan yelled, rushing to the unconscious child. "Hey, hey, wake up, you're going to be okay." The child opened his eyes. He gave a few weak coughs before laying still in Willis's arms. Ethan covered the child's face with a handkerchief, "Breath through this."

A cacophony of falling debris resonated throughout the small building, the front entrance was no longer an option.

"Willis! Over here!" Rox was yelling from the window to Willis's right, she had punched through it and broken the glass to create an exit.

Willis could feel his lungs already starting to burn with the effort of breathing now, the smoke was overtaking his tired body. His right arm was already causing him severe pain, only now realising, he had a large gash bleeding freely down his arm. He briefly wondered how it had happened.

"Carefully, watch the glass," he said, handing Rox the boy through the window.

"I got him, come on pal, stay awake." Rox rushed him to the truck outside, ready to give him the proper treatment.

She didn't notice Willis hadn't followed the child out of the window.

There was a large beam that had fallen in front of the window, it's flames growing by the second, licking up the walls until they were near the ceiling. "Shit," Ethan muttered to himself.

His lungs were burning, his chest trying to pull in breaths of oxygen, but instead being replaced with black smoke. He could practically feel the alveoli sputtering out. He grabbed his chest, covering his mouth with his jacket and began searching for a new wait out.

The front entrance, it was far, and he'd have to hurtle another of the burning beams, but at least he didn't have a child in his arms. Just as he was traversing a careful path towards the entrance, he heard the loud creaking of an unstable building. Pieces of the roof were beginning to fall.

"I need out of here, now." Pushing back down the agony of his chest and lungs, he dropped his jacket and tried to make a sprint for the door. His lungs went into an intense spasm, snatching his last breath from his lungs. He fell to one knee, his gloved hand resting on the ground trying to keep him from reaching the floor.

He clutched his chest as he gasped for air, making his severe condition worse. He briefly saw the debris from the ceiling falling to the ground around him, what he hadn't seen was the piece to his left.

The giant piece of ceiling landed on his left side with an intense brunt force. Ethan fell to the ground with a loud yell, his arm and chest were trapped under the wood.

"Rox… Rox." He tried yelling but his lungs wouldn't allow it, it sent him into a coughing fit, his vision began to go dark.

He could hear someone calling his name faintly, lifting his head with all of the strength he could muster, he thought he saw a flash of yellow from a firefighting suit. But he couldn't be sure. He'd have to find out when he woke up… if he woke up.


	2. In the Hands of Angels

Chapter 2.

"Hey, stay awake, I've got you." Rox had set the kid beside her bag which lay next to an abandoned truck. He seemed to be fine, his breathing obviously compromised. She placed an oxygen mask over his face. Realising Willis wasn't assisting, she turned to call for him, but he wasn't there.

Suddenly aware, she yelled "Willis! Willis! Where are you!"

"I'll be right back, stay right here, okay?" She spoke urgently, before rushing to the entrance of the building.

"Willis!"

"Hey what's goin on? Did you find the kid?" A group of 3 or so firefighters were making their way to the building.

"Yeah he's going to be fine, Dr. Willis is still in there, I think he got stuck. We need to find him."

"We got it, we'll go get him. Come on boys. Harding, you stay here with the kid and Rox."

They pushed their way through the front entrance, their masks protecting them from the harsh smoke that was currently trapping Ethan within. The beam at the front was large, but the two managed to push it partially out of the entrance, making it easier to see inside.

"Dr. Willis! Can you hear us! Yell if you're here!"

"There! He's right there!" Ladson, the second fireman pointed out the figure lying under a large chunk of fallen wood.

The flames were quickly taking over the building, it wasn't going to be standing much longer. They needed to get out of there. They rushed to the fallen doctor, "Willis, can you hear me? Brading assessed his injuries, noting the blood dripping down his arm, it had saturated the floor beneath him, as well as the obvious and painful gasping resonating from the doctor.

"Get him a mask. Now." Andrews placed one of the masks over Ethan's face, his eyes were closed and his breathing was harsh.

They began to lift the wood from his injured body but were stopped when Ethan suddenly woke up yelling with pain. The mobile portion of his body arched off of the ground, trying to reach an escape from the pain.

"Is the kid okay, is the kid okay." His harsh breaths hardly allowing him to get the words out.

"The kid's fine! We're gonna get you out of here, we've just gotta get this off you alright? Lay still, you're gonna be fine!"

Without waiting, they lifted it off of Ethan, the resulting yells of agony echoed off the walls.

Andrews picked the now unconscious man up, his shoulders resting on one arm and legs hung over the other. His head was hung over the man's arm and his right arm hung down, the blood from the wound dripping along the way. They traversed their way to the exit, hurdling fallen debris and avoiding the intense heat trailing them. They finally reached clean air.

"Rox! Over here!" Ladson yelled.

She rushed over, taking in the site before her.

Andrews had laid Ethan down on the dirt far in front of the building, near the kid.

Ethan's whole body was covered in black soot, his right arm was drenched in blood, mixing with the dirt he lay on. His breaths were coming in shallow and struggled huffs. The worst part was the left side of his body, where the wood had fallen on him. His shoulder was dislocated, and that was the best of it.

Part of his jacket had been burned away revealing the skin beneath, on his shoulder and chest. Rox assumed the piece was only hot from the flames around it rather than on fire itself. Nonetheless, he had at least 2nd-degree burns over the majority of his left side.

"We need to get him out of here. Now," she urged. She felt her heart clench for the slowly dying man before her, the sound of his strangled gasps making it hurt more.

"Already on it, that's the helicopter now, get ready to load him up."

Just then the chopper began its descent to land, two men with a backboard rushed out towards them.

The one fireman helped get the kid to the helicopter while the other two stayed back to help with Willis.

"We need to get him to Angeles Memorial, ASAP. Let's go." Rox ushered the medics to the helicopter.

The three paramedics were piled into the helicopter, a dying man in between them. It was hard to concentrate with the wind racing through the open space.

"Get that oxygen mask and O2 tank, let's hook him up. His stats aren't looking good." Rox ordered the other paramedic.

"His stats are still dropping, how far out are we?" Rox spoke into her headset.

The pilot responded, "About 6 minutes, we're going as quickly and safely as we can."

She returned her attention to the gasping man beside her, his chest was heaving with the effort of bringing in clean oxygen. He was conscious now, his green eyes stared at her with nothing but calmness.

He wasn't afraid, although she felt he should have been.

"You're going to be okay, got that Ethan? You're gonna be fine." Rox squeezed his good shoulder lightly.

A paramedic was wrapping his dripping right arm in gauze and tape. It had already begun to bleed through. He reached up with his now heavily bandaged but drenched right arm to slide the oxygen mask off weakly.

In between heaves, he managed to get out "The kid?"

"He's fine, he's right here, he's gonna be fine." Rox helped him but his mask back on.

"Hurts," he mumbled, his heart rate was climbing at this point. Nearing 180, all three paramedic's hearts began to race as well.

"He's headed for cardiac arrest, we've gotta get him out of here." Rox urged.

"Ethan! Ethan, I need you to keep breathing okay, deep breaths, just focus on your breathing alright?"

His eyes were beginning to droop, combined with the intense pain he was experiencing and the lack of oxygen. He was so tired, he could still see the outline of Rox's face, but the darkness was so comforting. The pain would go away… he could rest. And his eyes fell shut.

"He's flatlining! Get the paddles!" The other paramedic yelled.

Rox ripped open the injured man's shirt, they were slapping the sticky defibrillator pads onto his bare chest now.

"Charge to 250 jules," Rox said.

"Charged."

"Clear!" She yelled.

Ethan's body arched with the strength of the electricity rushing through his body.

"No pulse, hit him again."

The paddles sent another bolt of electricity through his body.

They waited…

The small blips from the cardiac monitor began to grow with each passing second.

"He's back, get the mask back on him, we're here."


	3. Welcome Back

Chapter 3.

The emergency room at Angeles Memorial hospital was being prepped for the helicopter carrying two of the wildfire victims. What they didn't know was that their severely injured patient was their one of their very own, Dr. Ethan Willis.

The helicopter landed on the roof of Angeles, the chopper's blades blowing the warm air out across the roof.

Dr. Rorish, Jesse, and Dr. Mario Savetti were there with a gurney, as they placed the backboard with the injured man onto the gurney, there was a shocking moment of silence when they realised who it was.

"It's Ethan," Jesse let out.

"Let's get him to center stage. Now," Leanne ordered.

The ER was already a frenzy, code Black had been established already with the large influx of fire victims. But this was different, one of their very own needed them now.

"Ethan, can you hear me? I need you to open your eyes. Can you do that for me?" Mario was trying to rouse him. He noticed the hitching gasps coming from the man on the table, his O2 stats were declining.

"He's headed for respiratory arrest, we need to get him on some blood and heparin, and get him intubated soon," Leanne said.

Ethan's eyes began to open, the light above him making him squint.

"Welcome back Dr. Willis," Jesse said, "Do you understand what I'm saying?"

"Yeah," he rasped, "Lungs are killing me," he got out between gasps.

"Yup, we're getting you meds right now, what about your shoulder, you've got borderline second-degree burns, can you feel this?" Jesse was palpating his arm below the majority of the burns.

"Ah!" Willis let out a pained shout, "Yeah, yeah I feel it." Just then Ethan started grimacing with discomfort, "Jesse, chest…"

"Leanne, where's that heparin," Jesse asked.

"On its way, I don't know what's taking so long."

Ethan's O2 stats began to drop, his gasping was coming in quick draws, but no air was traveling in. He was clutching at his chest now, his own lungs were suffocating him from the inside. It wasn't a pleasant feeling, his boot heels began weakly kicking at the mattress in a futile attempt at getting away from his invisible attacker. His back arching off the gurney with every failed gasp.

"We need to intubate. Now!" Leanne ordered, Jesse was handing her the kit.

"Ethan, I need you to calm down, we're gonna get you fixed up in no time alright? Push Ativan, I can't intubate him like this."

Jesse injected a few milligrams of Ativan, he held onto the injured man's hand, telling him he was going to be alright. For a split second, Jesse saw a flicker of the fear that was normally absent from the brave man's eyes.

"You're going to be fine," Jesse said.

Ethan's eyes were dropping with the effects of the medication.

"He's out," Mario said.

Leanne intubated him, the O2 stats were dropping dangerously low.

"We need a chest x-ray to see the extent of the damage to his lungs and we need to get both the shoulder burns and his arm checked out. Dr. Savetti, you can assess his right arm, Jesse and I will take care of the burns."

"Got it, Daddy," Mario replied.

Ethan's right arm was dripping with blood, a small puddle was forming below his arm that was hanging from the bed. He repositioned the injured limb onto the bed and began unwrapping the drenched gauze and tape. A long, deep gash was revealed from the inside of his bicep to the centermost part of his forearm.

Another nurse stood by his side, assisting with the wound care.

"Shit," Mario responded, blood began pumping freely from the wound. "He severed his brachial, whoever wrapped this did an amazing job. Get Dr. Campbell down here now." Mario ordered the nurse and began to wrap the wound again. He looked at Leanne, "He's going to need surgery for this to repair the artery, what about the shoulder?"

"It's bad, but I think it'll be fine after we get the inflammation down. We won't know for sure until then. Let's get him set up for Dr. Campbell before we make our next move."

**2 hours later**

Dr. Campbell stood in the operating room, his blood covered gloves coming off and landing in a bin. He uncovered himself from the freshly used surgical gown, ready to speak with the rest of his ER about the grave condition of their Army doctor.

He stepped out to speak with Dr. Rorish, who was waiting outside.

"He's doing alright, we've just sent him up to the ICU. I repaired the artery, he lost a lot of blood but it wasn't hard to transfuse. As for the burn, he's going to have some lasting scarring, the mobility of his arm and shoulder have the potential to reach 100 percent again, but it's not incredibly likely. You should tell the others."

Leanne nodded, letting out a heavy breath, both out of relief and fear. She stepped away to tell the rest of her staff.

It wasn't long before Rox found herself standing in the ICU with Ethan laying in the bed beside her. He looked horrible, his left arm was taped to protect the recent surgery, along with the wrapping around his shoulder and chest to protect the burn injury.

The last thing she noticed were the scrapes on the side of his face and the dark circles below his eyes. He looked tired, worn out, exhausted.

Rox sat in the chair beside his bed, she raised her hand to the side of his face. She wanted to say something but didn't know what. Not that he would hear her anyway. And yet, maybe he would. It had been about 2 hours since the surgery, 2 hours for the mild anesthetic to wear off, his eyes were beginning to open. They had taken him off the ventilator and now had him on 100% oxygen with the oxygen mask.

His rasps fogged the plastic on his face. He immediately searched the room for Rox's figure. But his head fell back on the pillow and his face rested in a grimace. He was trying to suppress his groans of pain through clenched teeth but failed.

"Ethan, what's wrong?" He could hear Rox's concerned voice through the haze.

"Hurts," he gasped.

"I need a Doctor over here!" Rox yelled into the bustle of the ICU, Leanne was nearby and jogged over.

"Where are his pain meds?" Leanne let out urgently and confused, "Jesse! Get me a drip of morphine, stat," Leanne ordered.

"You got it, Daddy," he ran off to fetch the meds.

"Ethan, we're getting your meds, just hold on a few more second alright?" Leanne had her hand on his uninjured shoulder.

His chest was heaving in irregular breaths, his head pressed tensely against the pillow.

"Jesse!" Leanne shouted.

"Here!" Jesse came into view, hooking up the morphine drip, and swiftly connecting it to the writhing man's IV.

The result was instantaneous, Ethan went still and began to relax.

"Thanks," he mumbled between his harsh breaths.

"I'm going to go find that nurse and fire them," Jesse said angrily.

"Right behind you Mama," Leanne replied.

"Feel better?" Rox asked.

Ethan breathed, "Much…" his eyes began to droop again.

"You should rest, I'll be here when you get up, then we can talk about your injuries then."

"Mm," he mumbled in affirmation before his eyes fell shut again, his breathes settling into a regular rhythm of labored breathing.


	4. I do too

**A/N:** Hello! Glad you've continued reading this far into my story. I know this isn't the longest story, but it was one that I wanted to right desperately because so little happened in the episode "Hell's Heart." This is the final chapter of this story, but I have much much bigger plans for this fandom. I have about 6 other story ideas that I'm developing now. One that I'm in the process of finishing the outline for. Most of my writing is going to by Willis h/c or angst because I love him so freaking much and tearing his walls down is one thing I loved about the show. Hope you enjoy this last chapter, and please don't forget to comment, favourite or follow me so you get a notification the next time I upload. It won't be long now!

**P.S.** If you have recommendations for ANY story you'd like me to write (I don't do smut though, lol) Please PM me and I'll see what I can do! Doesn't matter what characters, ships, themes, I'll write it!

* * *

Chapter 4.

"Welcome back, Dr. Willis," Jesse and Mario greeted the returning doctor. It had been roughly 2 months and 5 days since the events of the burning building. He was signed off to return to work under strict observation by Dr. Mario Savetti.

"Thanks, guys, first patient?" Willis questioned.

Mario spoke up, "We've got an ambulance arriving with a 24-year-old female, stab wound to the lower left quadrant of the abdomen," they waited by the ambulance bay doors.

"Ready Willis?" Mario looked at the man.

"Always," Ethan replied.

When the ambulance arrived they worked swiftly, Ethan was on autopilot, the extensive training from his many years as a doctor. His muscle memory and quick thinking kept him afloat as always.

The patient didn't take much time to get taken care of, it was a minor injury, Leanne didn't want Willis starting off with anything too intense. Easing back into his practice was the best thing for him.

"It's like you never even left Dr. Willis," Mario mentioned after they had finished cleaning up from their patient.

"Glad I've still got the touch," Ethan gave an honest smile.

He was trying to hide it, but his lungs had begun to send shooting pain throughout his chest. He tried to control his hitching breath but decided he should ride this out. He leaned against the wall to the right of his patient's bed. He hung his head in a grimace, his right shoulder, and arm supporting him.

He hoped nobody was paying attention, but no such luck.

"Dr. Willis, are you alright?" Leanne asked, keeping the concern from seeping into her voice.

Ethan kept his eyes shut for a few more seconds before looking up at the doctor.

"I'm fine, just needed a second," he pushed himself off the wall and headed towards the on-call room to ride out the rest of it, hoping it would stop soon.

The next day, painfully aware of the hawk-like eye Leanne and Jesse were watching him with, Ethan returned to check on his stab wound patient.

"Mrs. Hendricks, how are you today? Any pain?" He asked with a questioning smile.

"Fine, just a little but your nurse here said he's going to help me with that," she referred to Jesse who was standing by the IV stand.

"Glad to hear it, we'll be moving you up to another room in a few days so you can get out of here. Sound good?" She nodded and he smiled and turned to leave.

He headed towards the men's restroom afterward, looking to catch a moment of silence from the bustle of the busy ER. He made it halfway down the near quiet hallway before suddenly he stopped in his tracks.

His lungs had launched into a full on spasm, halting any breath from being taken and sending white-hot rivulets of pain through his chest, he reached for the wall, slowly collapsing onto his left knee. He tried to pull a breath, part of one, anything, to no avail. He was left there, his chest heaving and hand clutching at it. He heard quick footfalls trailing towards him, "Dr. Willis, look at me," it was Leanne.

"Do you know what's wrong?" She asked urgently, one hand on his shoulder and the other holding his face to look at hers.

He shook his head, he was at least getting some oxygen into his lungs at this point, but not enough. He fell to a sit, his back pressed against the wall.

Leanne had called for someone to bring an oxygen mask and O2 tank, looking to preserve his consciousness at the very least.

Perfect timing, he thought. He was beginning to see dark spots dance around his vision, Dr. Rorish placed the mask over his face, noticing the immediate improvement in his mental awareness.

They sat there for what felt like forever, but they knew it had only been a minute or so. Finally, his lungs returned to their regular functionality, he removed the mask, still breathing slightly irregularly.

"Way to make someone's heart stop," Leanne sat with her back to the wall beside him.

"Yeah, sorry about that," he said.

"Has that happened before?" She asked.

"No, fortunately," he replied.

"You shouldn't be back with your condition like that Dr. Willis. As far as I'm concerned, you should still be on chest physiotherapy and not working at all. I expect you'll take that to heart and get it done?" She questioned.

He didn't answer, only glanced at her and looked down.

She took that as her answer and stood.

"I'll have someone cover your shift, and let Dr. Savetti know you'll be out for the rest of the day. Go home, Ethan." She urged, she helped him stand and then headed back to the currently calm ER.

Having not yet followed Dr. Rorish's advice, Ethan returned for his shift the next day. He had taken care of several routine patients. Grunt work really, but he didn't mind, as long as he was in the ER, he was happy. He couldn't get out of his head, despite being busy, what Leanne had said. Something was up with his lungs that should've been on the mend after a few weeks of physiotherapy right after it happened. The chest x-rays looked good and his therapy had gone well. He hadn't experienced any problems.

He pushed it from his mind as he opened the curtain to his next patient.

Flu-like symptoms, 3rd time today. He began the routine questions, ending the consult with a smile and a nod.

He could feel another bout of pain lacing its way through his chest. He rested against the pillar near the nurse's station, letting his head fall back against the wall. He clutched his eyes shut for a brief second. Shaking it off and looking back at his chart.

Of course, Jesse managed to catch the quick grimace from a few feet away and stood in front of him. His arms crossed and a quirked eyebrow.

"I think I remember Leanne telling me something the other day, you wanna know what it was?" He asked sarcastically, "No it's fine, I'm gonna tell you anyways. She said" he leaned forward, arms still crossed as he said it "Get. Help. I'll walk you up to physiotherapy myself if you want, mama ain't scared of no therapists." He waited a few seconds.

"I'll do it, don't worry. I'm glad Leanne let you know the details of my condition," Willis said the last part with a bittersweet twist.

"If that's sass I hear, mama's gonna give you a whoopin'. My ER, my doctors, and my doctors listen to their mama." He ended with that and walked off.

He let out a breath, the pain had ceased but he knew it wouldn't be the last time. He needed to get that appointment scheduled. He hadn't heard from Rox today, maybe he'd check in with her.

* * *

"What's up Mr. Hotshot?" Rox greeted him with a partial mouth full of her sandwich.

Willis sat down at the small table, "Nothing much, glad to be back at least. You?" He asked, taking a sip of his coffee.

"Doing well, just another day in the bus. You get cleared by Rorish for full return to work yet?" She continued eating.

He took a second to respond, glancing down at the coffee cup in his hand"I think I'm going to take a few more weeks off, actually." He looked at her again.

She was suddenly concerned, her eyebrows quirked slightly. She had set down her food.

"Everything all right? I thought you were on the mend?" Her eyes were intensely trained on him, searching for anything that might be revealed in his light eyes.

"Yeah, everything's fine, just having a little bit more trouble with the lungs than initially planned. It's not a big deal," He waved his hand as if brushing the topic away.

"I think it is a big deal if the one person in this ER that is basically invincible is taking a few weeks."

He huffed, "I honestly don't know what's wrong, not that that's what you wanted to hear, but, I think the damage was more severe than we initially planned. It's nothing a few more weeks of physiotherapy won't fix. Then I'll be back saving people's lives on your rig again. You know, dream team back at it again," he smiled.

"I've been keeping the spot open specifically for that reason, not having my Superman on the rig as been kind of boring. Just waiting on you to come back," she laughed.

"I'm glad," he was staring at her with a small smile on his face, she could see something unsaid on his lips. In the way his eyes traced the outline of her face and how they were both immediately in a good mood whenever they saw each other.

"Don't worry," she reached over and placed her hand on his, "I do too."


End file.
